The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 82

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Husband Who Should Have Died Returns Episode 082
Cherez moved as if dancing with the sky itself as his partner. It was while he was slaughtering the flying beasts that his gaze froze.
The Rift viewed from above looked entirely different from gazing up at it from the ground.
From below, it appeared as though a hole had been torn through the heavens. But looking down from above, its structure was distinctly peculiar. The Rift curved in a bow shape. As if embracing something.
And at its center, distorted air swirled in a vortex. Like heat shimmer. I could see light refracting as the air twisted and warped.
I tightened my grip on the beast’s antenna and descended slightly. The movements of the beasts pouring from the Rift came into view. What I had thought were creatures spilling out without direction were actually spreading in a bow formation centered on the vortex. And a considerable number were circling nearby, tracing arcs around the swirling center.
The beasts were guarding it.
My hair scattered in the fierce wind. Descending further, I narrowed my eyes and studied the vortex more intently.
‘What is that inside?’
Its surface rippled irregularly. As if it were alive.
“Kieeeek!”
Cherez clicked his tongue sharply.
“Tsk.”
The flying beast he rode was sagging lower and lower. It was dying. The antenna section I gripped was nearly torn away. Before it crashed into the beasts’ jaws, I had to return to the Main Base. Cherez changed direction toward the Coastline. My altitude continued to drop.
The moment Cherez leaped off, the beast that had served as his mount crashed into the Sandy Beach and breathed its last.
Cherez straightened his body. Wills came running toward him. His face was caked with dirt and blood.
“Sir! Have you truly lost your mind!”
“If I hadn’t lost it, I wouldn’t have survived this long. Don’t worry. I’ll outlive you yet.”
Cherez tapped Wills’ shoulder lightly with a short laugh, then immediately gripped his sword again and moved toward the remaining beasts.
But in his mind, what he had seen moments ago would not fade.
I had to discover what that thing inside the vortex was.
If I could uncover it, perhaps.
I could end this war.
Cherez’s sharp instinct was telling him so.

* * *
What Mila discovered was a person.
“I thought he was dead, but he still had a pulse. It’s him, isn’t it, Robin?”
Robin’s face had gone ashen as he examined the man carefully, then shook his head.
“There’s nothing we can do for him here.”
“We should move him. Let’s take him to the villa.”
At my words, Mila nodded and hoisted the man onto her back. Robin and I followed close behind her.
Mila set the man down in front of the villa. His face was the color of ash. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and his skin was covered in crimson blotches. Where the spots clustered most densely, the skin had cracked open, beading with blood.
Robin pressed the back of his hand against the man’s forehead.
“His fever is dangerously high. And these blotches….”
Robin exhaled heavily, his expression grave. He seemed to already know what afflicted the man.
“It’s Red Moon.”
“Red Moon?”
“It’s a disease that spreads when the red moon lingers for too long. When the body cannot see sunlight, the components that maintain bone structure become depleted, causing these symptoms. It starts with blotches, then the skin splits open, and eventually the organs fail. It spreads through bodily fluids.”
Robin grasped the man’s wrist and checked his pulse.
“If we have a physician or herbalist, it’s a disease that heals quickly. With medicine administered early, recovery takes ten days.”
“And if he doesn’t take it?”
Robin answered my question with grave weight.
“He’ll be dead within a month.”
I bit my lip. Dead? There were truly countless ways for a person to die.
Red Moon, the contagion that spreads when the red moon rises, had been mentioned in the original work as well.
Just then, the man regained consciousness. A faint glimmer returned to his clouded eyes. His lips moved weakly.
“W-where am I?”
“Are you awake? Look at me! Where did you come from?”
Robin tapped the man’s cheek sharply, urging him to focus. The man answered haltingly, his voice growing fainter.
“C-Carencia…. H-herbs… I need herbs….”
“Is there no physician in the Village Below the Mountain?”
“There isn’t. Below… only those like me who couldn’t leave remain.”
The man let out a groan. I couldn’t tell if he was still conscious. His eyes were half-open but unfocused. What could we accomplish with him in that state? Still, we had not only Robin, who was deeply knowledgeable about herbs, but also Mila, who was equally skilled in their preparation.
“Robin, Mila. Can you make the medicine?”
Robin was the one who answered.
“If we have the ingredients. Two of the herbs needed to treat Red Moon grow naturally on this mountain. I noted their locations when I was gathering plants recently.”
“Let’s bring him inside first. If we leave him out here like this, he’ll die.”
Since we could make the medicine, it seemed we could bring him in.
Mila nodded and hoisted the man back onto her shoulders. As we entered, Yureain and Dorpin were waiting for us.
Upon seeing the man, Yureain’s expression shifted to alarm, while Hayden eyed the stranger with caution and hid behind me.
“Mama, who?”
“He’s a sick man, sweetheart. You mustn’t get close to him.”
“Why?”
“Because then you’d have to take very bitter medicine. Do you want to take very bitter medicine?”
“No!”
Hayden turned his head and rushed toward Yureain with quick, determined steps. The child’s lips, resistant to medicine, had formed into a stubborn pout. Upon seeing me, he whipped his head away entirely. He was sulking again.
I wondered whose temperament he’d inherited—truly.

* * *
Unlike Mila, who had ventured out to gather medicinal herbs, Robin remained at the villa due to poor physical condition. I gazed intently at Robin, who appeared visibly fatigued.
“Cough, cough!”
“…Robin, you really ought to exercise more.”
“For physicians, what truly matters is health rather than physical strength. I assure you, I am in good health.”
What sophistry was that? In any case, those remaining at the mansion gathered in the kitchen.
Yureain, Dorpin, and Robin. Hayden sat upon Yureain’s lap, gnawing thoughtfully on a wooden chip.
“Hey now. That’s not for eating.”
“Eat it? I can’t? No!”
“Don’t put it in your mouth.”
Hayden whipped his head around.
“Hmph!”
“Pouting won’t work. I’m sulking too!”
I extracted the wooden chip, dented by bite marks, from Hayden’s grasp and began the discussion.
“We need to decide what to do with that man. If we treat him and send him back, the village will learn that a physician is here. Then everyone will want to come seeking medicine. But if we simply send him away untreated, he’ll die. We must decide what to do.”
Dorpin spoke with cold clarity.
“We must send him back. The safety of the Duchess and the young master is paramount. We must live as though we are dead. His death is his fate.”
Robin shook his head and raised his voice slightly.
“I cannot simply send him away knowing he will die without any treatment. We have the means to create medicine—sending him away makes no sense. How can a person do such a thing?”
Both had valid points, I thought. Our safety did come first, yet we couldn’t ignore a human life either.
In truth, I had already reached a conclusion.
“Let us treat him.”
Dorpin’s mouth opened, but I continued before he could speak.
“And the village patients as well.”
Robin’s eyes widened. Dorpin froze entirely.
“If Red Moon causes an illness that spreads during the crimson moon, then everyone in the village must be suffering from the plague. We are precious to them. We might be able to use that desperation to our advantage.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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